Dark Souls: A King and The Hero

Welcome, My King

The Prophet turned his gaze towards a castle wall in the distance. He raised his finger and pointed, "There." The King and the Hero, followed his gaze. "This is where we must go to first get you adjusted to the new world."

"We will adjust just fine." Assured the king. He went to grip the sword on his waist, only to find nothing there. In fact the clothes he were wearing began to fade, until he was standing naked. He turned to the Hero who was very much in the same position. "What is this?" Asked the King angrily.

"It's not me." The Prophet explained. "What remained of Yharnam was only maintained by the nightmare. With it now gone, you will both cease to exist. You will become just a memory of the past, but i did not come all this way to lose you now. Your bodies are much stronger than bits of cloth. You can hold yourself together, and i have some extra clothes in my bag. If we make it to the Shrine, we can link the fires of your soul."

"What?" Asked the King confused, but he was ignored as the Prophet tossed him some armor. He quickly put it on, scoffing at its primitiveness. "How many centuries to improve armor and its less now than when i died for the first time."

"This is what we have to protect us.." Said the Prophet. "We must protect the flame."

"What is the flame?" Asked the Hero, as they began making their way down a path through mountains and graves.

"Once Yharnam fell..after your time.. Mankind fell with it. The darkness that was contained, spread everywhere, and soon all of life was consumed by it. The world became stale. There was no life. The Great ones became something else. They appeared on the world in a sustained form. They no longer needed the dream cycle to feed them. They just existed. We called the most powerful ones, "Dragons", and they existed in a dead world. There was nothing else there but them. Humans were wiped out..but there is a saying..every ending gives way to a beginning.. And a spark was lit.. A fire emerged..and the husks of humanity..the undead, but still not alive, husks made their way to this fire.. And 3 of them were gifted. One was gifted with life, one with death, and one with light, and through great sacrifices, they defeated the most powerful dragons and humanity returned to the world.." Explained the Prophet.

"That sounds like a nice story." Said the King, eying all the corpses on the ground, and the countless graves along the road they walked. "Happy endings all around us."

"Every beginning has an end" said the Prophet sadly. "Humanity is lost forever. They have been since your times. What returned to the world were still husks..counterfeits of the past, hiding under pretty skin..soulless still.. And in the end, every human was destined to become hollow. That is the fate of our people now. To make it worse, the only thing that hides their hollow, the flame that rekindled life, is on the verge of dying. Many have sacrificed themselves to keep it alive, but now..now no one is willing to make the sacrifice."

As they walked, an arrow flew at the King. He caught it, millimeters from piercing his eyes, and snapped it in his hand. The group looked up to see undead archers firing arrows at them. The Prophet raised his hand, creating a ethereal blade, and flew over to the archers, cutting one down quickly. A corpse stood up, gripping a great sword, it swung at the Prophet, but the King quickly ran over and blocked it with his own blade, kicking the corpse over and ramming his blade down through its neck. The Hero took out the two remaining archers, spinning around the arrows they fired at him. His sword separating their heads from their shoulders.
"This is what we all become once the fire gets weak." Said the Prophet.
"What about you?" Asked the Hero, curious.
"Why havent you decayed into a Hollow as well." Asked the King.

"I have protected myself..for the time.." Said the Prophet. "My time will come..and i will be an enemy..but i brought you two here..you two who are human. Who cant become hollows..only you can have the time to find a cure..to save the world you saved so long ago.."

"Save is such a strong word" said the Hero, looking at the stitches on his arms. He looked at the King whose eyes were both yellow. "Human is also a strong word."

"But you ARE all we have." Said the Prophet. "A great one in human form and one who has spoken to the cosmos. Many hollows have added years to the life of the flames, but it dies faster and faster..and when it does die, and humanity goes underground again..and the world becomes stale..the Dragons will take over again. They try still.." They made their way up a small hill, where two knights were walking. The knights looked at them, and drew their swords, running at them. The Hero ran forward, dropping and sliding on his knees, cutting one across his legs. As he fell, the King ran up and plunged his sword into his chest. The Prophet shot a ball of energy at the other one, throwing him backward into the air, where the Hero was already on his feet with his sword ready. He dashed forward, and sliced the knight in half. As the knights fell, a white light left their bodies and entered the three fighters.

"Echoes?" Asked the Hero, amazed.

"Souls." Replied the Prophet.

"I thought you said that you dont have any?" Asked the King, confused.

"Not in the same sense. Souls here, bounce from survivor to survivor. Its a connection to the flame that keeps you alive. The less humans alive, the less they draw on the flames for sustenance, making those nearby when they fall, much stronger.." Explained the prophet.

"Disgusting." Said the King, as they made their way to the top of the hill, where the castle was..It was dark and dreary, made of stone, with several thrones inside. It looked more like a large dungeon than any castle the King had ever seen. In the center, was a woman, with a soft voice who looked very familiar.

"The Doll." Whispered the Hero.

"I am no doll." Said they lady. "If you wish to play with me, it will cost you every soul inside of your body.."

The King laughed. "Yeah, okay doll."